For furniture to be considered “green,” it needs to follow sustainable growth principals, including low toxic materials, and it should be durable enough to last a long time. Also, it should be easy to repair, disassemble, and recycle if a problem happens. So many things we buy today aren’t repairable, much less recyclable, which is adding to the landfills at an unprecedented rate.
- Buy High-Quality Timeless Pieces – If you buy good pieces that you know will not only last a long time but be in fashion for a long time it’s much less likely that piece will end up in a landfill after you’re gone.
- Buy Only What You Need – Think like a minimalist when it comes to furniture. You don’t need more than you need. In addition, your house will look much more stylish if you are careful about what you choose. Make sure each piece has a purpose before you buy it.
- Buy Furniture Built from Certified Sustainable Wood – Ask whether the furniture is made from certified sustainable wood or not. If it qualifies, it will have a certification paper with it that has a green tree on it.
- Buy Furniture Built from Recycled Materials – One way to buy furniture that doesn’t add as much to your carbon footprint is to buy furniture (or make it yourself) from recycled materials. Anything that was made of wood can be redone to be new.
- Buy Furniture That Can Be Recycled or Reused – When you buy any furniture think about whether it can be recycled or reused. Consider all the materials, chemicals, and everything used in making it before you buy it.
- Buy Furniture Made from Bamboo – This fast-growing material is easy to work with and makes a huge difference. The only drawback is that often glue is used to hold the furniture together and some people use chemicals like formaldehyde to treat it. In addition, due to the laws in the USA, most hemp is grown in China and has a lot of pesticides on it.
- Buy Furniture Made from Hemp – It only takes about 9 months to grow Hemp, and it doesn’t ruin the soil. There is no need to rotate hemp crops. It cleans the soil. You can make all sorts of things from hemp including materials that look like wood.
- Buy Furniture Made from Reclaimed Wood – It’s more expensive and harder to find but when you can find it this is a very sustainable way to furnish your home. They often get reclaimed wood from abandoned buildings, old farms, barns, and even railroad houses. This not only makes your furniture sustainable but gives a story to tell.
- Buy Low Toxic Materials – Some of the treatment that furniture goes through is very toxic. Try to avoid those materials. Additions such as flame retardant are very dangerous as are some of the materials that off-gas for years polluting any environment that it’s in.
Green shopping tips for buying furniture starts with only buying what you need, buying certified green pieces that look timeless and will last a long time as well as those that can be repaired, recovered, and reused.
